Let it be? Not if we can work it out, we won't. Many moons ago, it all kicked off in the Knowledge over whether or not any of the Beatles were football fans. Furthermore, legions of readers wanted to know in particular whether they were Everton or Liverpool fans, or steered a wide berth of this touchy subject for fear of alienating fans. After much bickering, it was finally established that nobody seemed sure whether Paul and John were Reds or Blues, while it seemed that if George and Ringo had any interest whatsoever in football, they hid it well. Thankfully, author and chronicler of all things Scouse, Andy Thompson, has finally emerged from the woodwork and claims to have the definitive answer.

"I'm three years late, but I'm replying to the question 'Did the Beatles like football?' which appeared on December 11 2003" he says. "I interviewed Ringo a couple of years ago for a book on Liverpool FC - only to find he was an Arsenal fan! His stepfather was from London apparently and would take Starkey Jr to Anfield or Goodison whenever the Gunners were in town. Having said that, he's pretty knowledgeable on the Reds these days and both his sons have season tickets at Anfield.

"Paul was (and maybe still is) definitely an Evertonian, as was his dad. He attended the 1968 FA Cup final - there is a photo of him outside Wembley. His brother Mike is a massive Red - and part of his band The Scaffold's promo film for Thank You Very Much was filmed in front of a packed Spion Kop at his behest (fellow band member Roger McGough, a Blue, refused to attend and is missing from the clip). George and John were not keen football fans, although George's son Dhani is a big Liverpool fan. But the biggest fan of all the Beatles' extended family is Neil Aspinall, the former Beatles road manager who attended Anfield regularly before the band left Liverpool for London and has attended games when possible ever since."

So now you know. Let this be an end to the matter ... unless you know better, of course.

ARE SPURS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PHRASE 'SICK AS A PARROT'?

"A mate of mine reckons that the phrase 'as sick as a parrot' has its origins in Spurs' 1909 South American tour," writes Rayner Simpson. "Apparently, on the boat home, two players won a fancy-dress competition, one of whom used the ship's parrot as a prop. As a result the bird was presented to the club. Ten years later, however, it died on the day Arsenal replaced Spurs in the first division - hence the origin of the phrase 'as sick as a parrot'. True or false?"

It's baloney, Rayner. The phrase "as sick as a ..." has been around since the early 18th century - originally it was "sick as a dog", then cat, and then horse before, in the late 1970s, parrot. In fact, the first use of "sick as a parrot" doesn't crop up until 1979 in Private Eye, where it is quoted in inverted commas, which is usually a clear indication that a phrase has only recently emerged as a popular one in the language.

What's more, the way the phrase was used in the 70s was actually more usually about someone's mental state rather than their physical one. Michael Quinion suggests that the phrase might come from instances of parrots contracting psittacosis and passing it to their human owners. Either way, it didn't originate in Spurs' 1909 tour of South America.

PUTTING RONALDINHO BACK IN HIS BOX

"Is Philippine-born Paulino Alcántara really Barcelona's all-time top scorer, as claimed on the website of the Philippine Football Federation?" asks Jerome Castro.

He certainly is Jerome, with a phenomenal record of 356 goals in 357 games for the Catalans between 1912 and 1927. Prolific Paulino, who was born in Iloilo City to Spanish parents in 1896 and was the first Asian-born player to play for a European club, also remains Barcelona's youngest ever goalscorer after slotting home a hat-trick on his debut against Catalá SC at the fair age of 15.

It should be noted that Alcántara's achievements may have been helped by the fact Barcelona played in an exclusively Catalan league at that time, rather than the modern La Liga, but they have never been seriously threatened. He also played for both the Philippines and Spain, but only a handful of times for each since he preferred to prioritise his medical studies ahead of his career. His boots remain on show in the club's museum.

"As an Arsenal fan, I've noticed that whenever we win the Charity Shield, we inevitably go on and fail to win the league," said Matt Tread in 2005, before the trophy's fancy name change. "Is there a curse?"

Quite possibly, Matt. Going back to the start of the Charity Shield - in 1908 - only 15 teams have gone on the win the league after winning the season's curtain raiser. That trend has been even more pronounced in recent times: apart from Chelsea in 2004-5, no side has won the trophy and gone on to win the league since Manchester United in 1996.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have won the league 13 times, but only three of those were preceded by a Charity Shield victory: in 1930, 1933 and in 1934. The Gunners opened the season with Charity Shield victories in 1998, 1999 and 2002 - only for United to win the title on each occasion.

"I seem to remember a story in the Spanish press when Mohammed Sissoko was at Valencia that he told his manager on international week that he had been called up, when this was totally untrue. Apparently he even had the cheek to say he scored a goal in the match. Are there any other funny stories of players skiving when they should be at matches?" asks Bill MacLachlan.

"Argentine coach Daniel Passarella once forced all his long-haired players to get their locks shaved if they wanted to play for the national team," recalls Brian Cowell. "Can anyone think of any other unreasonable demands by coaches/chairmen imposed upon players before being allowed to play?"

"I noticed that one Sean St Ledger, of Preston North End, blotted his copybook with an own goal last week," observes Martin Jones. "Have there been any other footballers named after horse races (other than the tenuous pair of Scott Oakes and Duane Darby)?"

"Nottingham Forest have so far missed a penalty in each of their three games this season," writes Mark Hooper. "What's the record for consecutive missed penalties?"